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Possibility, Redefined, with Ron Alford (Leadership, Vision, Confidence, Focus, Running)
Southwestern Speakers Episode 4632nd July 2024 • The Action Catalyst • Southwestern Family of Podcasts
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Ron Alford, Executive Coach, Certified Trainer, Keynote Speaker, and Senior Partner with Southwestern Consulting, covers the principles and parables in his newly revised edition of "Redefining Possible", and talks about finding the joy in having his soul crushed, collecting “Ron's Rambles”, the importance of putting on blinders, truths vs. lies, diving into the data, but going with the gut, and why his pals call him “Switzerland”.

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Redefining Possible

Transcripts

Adam Outland:

Welcome back to The Action Catalyst. Today we

Adam Outland:

are joined by Ron Alford, a senior partner and VP of

Adam Outland:

recruiting executive coach and speaker at Southwestern

Adam Outland:

Consulting. It's awesome to have you back on the podcast you've

Adam Outland:

been others before. I am excited to formally interview you

Adam Outland:

because you're trapped. I could ask you all the embarrassing

Adam Outland:

things publicly that I've always wanted to.

Ron Alford:

Thank you for having me on.

Adam Outland:

But in all honesty, you know, one of the

Adam Outland:

things that I've always respected about you and how

Adam Outland:

you've lived your life outside of business is, I guess, first

Adam Outland:

and foremost and how you run my first experience learning about

Adam Outland:

you. I remember who's when you talked about how you just run 35

Adam Outland:

miles one year for every year you've been alive, because it

Adam Outland:

was the 35th birthday. I was both amazed and thought you were

Adam Outland:

a masochist at the same time. But then when you unpacked you

Adam Outland:

know why you did it what it meant to you. I thought that was

Adam Outland:

really cool. But talk about when did running start for you?

Ron Alford:

Yeah, it's such an interesting thing, how gut

Ron Alford:

feelings happened. I remember walking into a running store,

Ron Alford:

you just get some shoes, not thinking much of it. My whole

Ron Alford:

life was basketball, football, just more team sports. And I saw

Ron Alford:

this fundraiser for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society where you can

Ron Alford:

do a triathlon, you can go to Kona, Hawaii with a group of

Ron Alford:

people you don't know and raise, I think I believe a six and a

Ron Alford:

half 1000 to go to Hawaii and do this this triathlon, this

Ron Alford:

Olympic distance triathlon. And I didn't have a bike I didn't

Ron Alford:

y'all really run other than to score a basket or a touchdown.

Ron Alford:

Or if and I just thought, man, it'd be neat. I was, you know,

Ron Alford:

getting a little older and team sports were the thing anymore.

Ron Alford:

And I remember fundraising for that and falling in love with

Ron Alford:

the whole philanthropic side of what we were doing there. But

Ron Alford:

then also the actual race itself and the endurance side of it,

Ron Alford:

and just really what it took to prepare there. And so after

Ron Alford:

doing the race, I thought, Oh, the bikie was cool. The swimming

Ron Alford:

was cool. But man, the running art was awesome. And so that

Ron Alford:

that started a series of like, okay, let's see what these half

Ron Alford:

marathons and marathons and these things are like, and

Ron Alford:

finally got into some some trail stuff where you're not as

Ron Alford:

consumed with the watch. You can't really you know, when

Ron Alford:

you're going up a mountain or doing technical single track,

Ron Alford:

you can have an 18 minute downhill mile that changes

Ron Alford:

everything. So that's that's kind of where the running part

Ron Alford:

started, and how I've more fallen in love with the distance

Ron Alford:

endurance side of it.

Adam Outland:

And today, like roughly how many ultras?

Ron Alford:

So in actual events, roughly 20 things. I've done

Ron Alford:

more on my own. Yeah, I'd say 35, 40.

Adam Outland:

How does running fit into your book Redefining

Adam Outland:

Possible? Where do you feel like how the psychology of how you do

Adam Outland:

what you do? Because for listeners that don't know, how

Adam Outland:

long is it typical ultra?

Ron Alford:

Anything typically 50k or above, so anything lot,

Ron Alford:

technically longer than a marathon louder than 26.2. So 50

Ron Alford:

ks 31 miles, but the thing about Ultra is, is they are usually in

Ron Alford:

mountains or deep trails, or they're not your typical road

Ron Alford:

kind of terrain. You know, obviously the book I'm sure

Ron Alford:

we'll talk more about it. But it alludes to belief barriers that

Ron Alford:

alludes to, to unconditional confidence, and running humbles

Ron Alford:

any person. Like there it is, it crushes your soul. And so it's

Ron Alford:

so good for me to get out there and just get beaten. And I don't

Ron Alford:

know any other pretty way to say it. And you remember those

Ron Alford:

moments where you were so depleted, your legs were shot,

Ron Alford:

you could hardly move the cramps were in can you take some

Ron Alford:

breaths, you take a minute, you recollect your thoughts, your

Ron Alford:

mind receptors, and suddenly your body follows your mind. 10

Ron Alford:

miles later, you're eating snacks, you're reinvigorated.

Ron Alford:

You're, you keep rallying. I would say the other part of it

Ron Alford:

is just in a world where it's, if you're in business, if you

Ron Alford:

have, you know, multiple kids like I do, I'm in a blended

Ron Alford:

family. You know, we're all have stress environments. And I

Ron Alford:

welcome that I want to be in areas where I feel pressure, I

Ron Alford:

want to be in areas where I feel stress, I think that's a healthy

Ron Alford:

thing. If I don't let it get to me too much. And that's where

Ron Alford:

the running really helps me. Calm, I come home from Iran. I'm

Ron Alford:

a better listener to my kids. I'm more calm with my wife, more

Ron Alford:

loving my wife and more patient with prospects or clients, you

Ron Alford:

name it.

Adam Outland:

I've noticed, I think that's a common trait. A

Adam Outland:

lot of people found this this success is that a number of them

Adam Outland:

not all but a number of found their ability to manage

Adam Outland:

controllable actions on a physical level, so, Arnold

Adam Outland:

Schwarzenegger going to the gym and knowing all the reps and see

Adam Outland:

the results from the reps he put in, you control your body, and

Adam Outland:

the results are an extension of that.

Ron Alford:

Absolutely. And yeah, Schwarzenegger's story. So

Ron Alford:

you know, he talks about how that fitness aspect helped him

Ron Alford:

in the world of acting and becoming, you know, arguably the

Ron Alford:

top actor of his time then in the world of politics, and so I

Ron Alford:

can't agree more it just it blends in to every part of life

Ron Alford:

and it doesn't matter if it's extreme weightlifting, like

Ron Alford:

Arnold or running or whatever the person's thing is, but it's

Ron Alford:

finding that.

Adam Outland:

You know, in prior interviews, we focused on some

Adam Outland:

of your kind of your earlier life and how you built into

Adam Outland:

Southwestern consulting and the impact that you've had there,

Adam Outland:

I'm wondering, I guess, more recently through COVID. And in

Adam Outland:

these last few years, what are some lessons that you've taken

Adam Outland:

back and thought about the work that you wrote and Redefining

Adam Outland:

Possible and new applications, new inspirations that you've

Adam Outland:

had? Just over the last three or four years?

Ron Alford:

Man, I love the question. I think for every

Ron Alford:

listener, for each of us, like I really am more and more

Ron Alford:

convicted on the seasons of life. You know, it's crazy how I

Ron Alford:

could have spoken with you six months ago on some of these

Ron Alford:

concepts. And today be in a totally different frame of mind.

Ron Alford:

For listeners that are familiar with the book, the the

Ron Alford:

overriding theme is impact, and you cannot grow older, you can't

Ron Alford:

go through things and not think about what is my legacy? What is

Ron Alford:

significance really mean? We all know that dollars don't equal

Ron Alford:

the joy. And yet, it's still so easy to fall into that trap of

Ron Alford:

whether it's more money, a new title at work, a better race

Ron Alford:

time and my running or whatever the carrot is, is going to bring

Ron Alford:

that joy. Yeah, you and I both know, man, it just the thing

Ron Alford:

that's really going to fill that cup is the difference I believe

Ron Alford:

I'm making in the lives of others. I think I could have

Ron Alford:

known that maybe a few years ago, and but I feel like I'm in

Ron Alford:

a season now where it's like that that is it. That is the

Ron Alford:

metal, that is the thing that we're going after. And so if I

Ron Alford:

believe that, then what am I doing in my life? What are my

Ron Alford:

morning routines? What are my habits? What am I who's holding

Ron Alford:

me accountable to where I can get the best out of what I've

Ron Alford:

been given?

Adam Outland:

I've always seen you as a long term thinker. But

Adam Outland:

when you said recently, there's been a reflection on legacy.

Adam Outland:

We'll go into that a little bit more like what how have you kind

Adam Outland:

of reset legacy for yourself? Like how have you started to

Adam Outland:

reassess or refresh legacy and what's important to you?

Ron Alford:

Really, it's just more top of mind. And I wasn't

Ron Alford:

planning to go here, but they have a recurring event, every

Ron Alford:

other Monday afternoon, Ron's call with Mark Stacy. And Mark

Ron Alford:

is a mentor for 1000s of people and impact her as as joyful of a

Ron Alford:

person I've ever worked with Cindy on life with, and I got to

Ron Alford:

work closely with him. And for years, he and I had our

Ron Alford:

recurring calls, and I got to go to Austin, Texas, to travel with

Ron Alford:

them and be with them. And Mark passed away, gosh, little over a

Ron Alford:

year ago to now incredibly unexpectedly, it just you can't

Ron Alford:

go through things like that every every listener that's had

Ron Alford:

a loved one go through a terminal condition or lost a

Ron Alford:

loved one unexpectedly. And so for me, I actually keep that

Ron Alford:

recurring event, it's still on my calendar. And I don't want to

Ron Alford:

remove that because it's as much as it can kind of make me sad

Ron Alford:

for a moment. Emotional. It also reminds me of like, if

Ron Alford:

perspective is brought back instantly, I might be thinking,

Ron Alford:

Oh man, I'm behind on my goals, right? I'm this or that? Or what

Ron Alford:

was me or Gosh, our profit margin is a little off. Or it's

Ron Alford:

like, come on, stop. And perspective comes back

Ron Alford:

instantly. And so trying to have those kind of reminders in my

Ron Alford:

life daily, where it's more top of mind.

Adam Outland:

Yeah, and I think you have this ability to hold

Adam Outland:

things loosely. Like maybe you even said this analogy years

Adam Outland:

ago, and I probably heard it from you, but you grip sand too

Adam Outland:

tightly in your hand it slips through your fingers. If you if

Adam Outland:

you cradle it, it's the only way to hold that. I think that might

Adam Outland:

have been you bid but I hear that I almost in that story

Adam Outland:

where it almost like that early reminds you to hold sort of

Adam Outland:

things that maybe we think are important can hold it loosely

Adam Outland:

instead because it's not as important as that perspective.

Ron Alford:

Yea, and just even as a parent, you hold your kids

Ron Alford:

lives, ya know, it's hard to not squeeze, my kids are gonna get

Ron Alford:

good grades, they're gonna be respectful, they're gonna look

Ron Alford:

people in the eyes, and they're gonna greet people, well,

Ron Alford:

they're gonna be little athletes and et cetera, et cetera, you

Ron Alford:

know, good music and art. And so you use like, you know what, I'm

Ron Alford:

going to do the best I can. I'm gonna have a ton of faith. I'm

Ron Alford:

going to lead by example, and I'm going to hold those things

Ron Alford:

loosely. Otherwise, I put so much pressure on my dang kids,

Ron Alford:

they they turn into a little monster.

Adam Outland:

Exactly. Yeah, control you can and don't try

Adam Outland:

and control things that you can't I love that. Another

Adam Outland:

question would be of some of the principles that you bring up

Adam Outland:

redefining possible What's another one, I guess, that

Adam Outland:

you're really been focused on here over the last year or two?

Ron Alford:

I'm really into focus because I think when

Ron Alford:

you're juggling things, think of the wheel the spokes of the

Ron Alford:

wheel right you know, and I've got my my spiritual goals like

Ron Alford:

for me, my faith is this the beginning and the end, right?

Ron Alford:

It's the center obviously, my role as a husband, my role as a

Ron Alford:

dad, my role, my business role, you know, with internal clients,

Ron Alford:

all of our coaches and company external clients. So you have

Ron Alford:

all these things on your plate that I've chosen. So that's the

Ron Alford:

ownership piece. This isn't a oh my gosh, look at this is like

Ron Alford:

thank goodness, I made these choices. So I'm fully owning it,

Ron Alford:

but the focus piece is big. And just even as I talk to you,

Ron Alford:

looking down making sure my phone is upside down, there's no

Ron Alford:

lighting there's no notifications of y'all my

Ron Alford:

computer screen man, no way would it would there be a

Ron Alford:

notification pop up that would somehow Take a little bit of my

Ron Alford:

momentum or my inertia or my focus away from our

Ron Alford:

conversation, just the blinders are more and more and more

Ron Alford:

fascinated with that concept. And I love studying it with

Ron Alford:

people, learning from people that just no matter how much

Ron Alford:

they have on their plate, whenever I'm with them, they

Ron Alford:

really seem present and engaged. I would say one last part of

Ron Alford:

that is because, again, to my three kids, my twin boys are

Ron Alford:

literally just about to start getting their driver's licenses.

Ron Alford:

And so it's like, Man, I don't have a ton of time with my kids

Ron Alford:

at home. I want to have focused time with these kids. You know,

Ron Alford:

I want to make sure the time I have with my wife counts, I want

Ron Alford:

to make sure the time I have in my co workers get Yeah, you get

Adam Outland:

Yeah, absolutely. Speaking of focus, writing a

Adam Outland:

it.

Adam Outland:

book takes a lot of focus. I mean, to get your ideas on

Adam Outland:

paper, and not even second guess yourself. It's really difficult.

Adam Outland:

It's me, there's a couple questions around just writing

Adam Outland:

and putting these ideas on paper. What was the best way for

Adam Outland:

you to focus on writing that book?

Ron Alford:

Yeah, I look back now. So I would say three,

Ron Alford:

there's kind of three phases. The first was just a loose over

Ron Alford:

a couple years loosely, having a having notes of Ron's rambles I

Ron Alford:

call them and it was just little little rambles, little thoughts,

Ron Alford:

little things I wanted to study, I had no idea what I wanted to

Ron Alford:

do with them. Maybe it'd be a blog, or a video or part of some

Ron Alford:

different keynote speaking things or a book. But that was

Ron Alford:

just a number of years of just kind of collecting thoughts and

Ron Alford:

pondering and just almost journaling and writing and

Ron Alford:

processing it. That was absolutely the first part. The

Ron Alford:

second was getting myself in a room and kind of organizing the

Ron Alford:

thoughts into something that made sense. Like, if I'm

Ron Alford:

beginning with the end in mind, what is the finished product

Ron Alford:

look like? What do you want readers to take away? If no one

Ron Alford:

read it, except my three kids? And maybe their spouses someday?

Ron Alford:

Would they be proud of their dad, if this is like my journal,

Ron Alford:

and are some sort of a way to process part of my life and part

Ron Alford:

of the things I believe deeply in, essentially, what I'm

Ron Alford:

devoting my professional life, but even a lot of my personal

Ron Alford:

life, too, if I can get this organized on paper, will my kids

Ron Alford:

be proud of it? That was the second part that was there was

Ron Alford:

more of an intense focus of getting it all arranged. The

Ron Alford:

third part was evenings, where I had help and had a bit of a team

Ron Alford:

that would you know, from six to 8pm, and thankfully, my wife was

Ron Alford:

awesome. She said, Hey, you have total permission to take that

Ron Alford:

time at night, and just you know, so it was two to three

Ron Alford:

hour segments at night, where I would grab a bite of dinner with

Ron Alford:

my family, and then by six or 615 be back in my office. And it

Ron Alford:

was just book work time from like, maybe six to eight 830.

Ron Alford:

And then they'll kind of relax a little bit with my my wife and

Ron Alford:

family before bedtime. So just more spurts two to three hours a

Ron Alford:

couple of nights a week.

Adam Outland:

I always get in a place where I question whether

Adam Outland:

I'll still think what I'm putting down as important. Five

Adam Outland:

or 10 years later. You now have this perspective. I guess coming

Adam Outland:

back and adding some highlights to the book when you wrote it, I

Adam Outland:

guess how did you know that this was gonna be something that you

Adam Outland:

read again five years later and go yes, I still believe these

Adam Outland:

things are still important to me.

Ron Alford:

I think just anything that is principles like

Ron Alford:

to me trends come and go right fads come and go 30 Day diets

Ron Alford:

and clothing styles, I have a lot of old pictures of clothes

Ron Alford:

that shirt or not in style, right? But But principles are

Ron Alford:

just there. They've been there the rock, I really believe the

Ron Alford:

character traits that I want to be known for the character

Ron Alford:

traits that I wanted this book to be about, and the principles

Ron Alford:

I want it to be centered on. And really the principles that

Ron Alford:

represent Southwestern, this isn't my book, I worked hard to

Ron Alford:

put a lot into it. But this is stuff that thankfully,

Ron Alford:

southwestern has given me over 30 years. And so that was really

Ron Alford:

important as well as that making sure anything we really dove

Ron Alford:

into was things that were going to last things like vision right

Ron Alford:

having a purpose for one's life is not a come and go topic. It

Ron Alford:

has been since the beginning of time and will always be right

Ron Alford:

things like belief systems, and really rewiring thoughts and

Ron Alford:

being hyper aware of the thoughts running through my head

Ron Alford:

and how do I reframe beliefs and not let my story go into a

Ron Alford:

negative way? Those are principles that are going to be

Ron Alford:

truths, right I call them truth versus lies. I unfortunately,

Ron Alford:

like any human pick up on a lie frequently in my mind starts

Ron Alford:

doubting and fill in blame and fill and worry and anxiety and

Ron Alford:

but these are truths that bring my mind back to center. I love

Ron Alford:

that. Yeah. And then we just wanted a fun mix of some

Ron Alford:

personal stories, of course and examples and but then a lot of

Ron Alford:

his history, right, we learned from history. So a lot of

Ron Alford:

historical whether it's data and studies and actual case studies,

Ron Alford:

but But history that kind of backs up a lot of these

Ron Alford:

principles of how important they are to our lives.

Adam Outland:

100% Yeah, I love that. You know, there are a lot

Adam Outland:

of listeners that probably haven't had a chance to pick up

Adam Outland:

the book yet. I know you said you wrote it with even your own

Adam Outland:

kids in mind like would they be proud of you, but in the world

Adam Outland:

of business and the people that are listening in here, who did

Adam Outland:

you write This book for like, who are the people that are

Adam Outland:

going to pick this up, read it and go, gosh, that's exactly

Adam Outland:

what I need it?

Ron Alford:

Well, clients were top of mind through a lot of

Ron Alford:

this. And a lot of them are in sales, a lot of them are in

Ron Alford:

leadership. They lead small teams, some of lead small teams,

Ron Alford:

some of the lead companies, but at the end of the day, they're

Ron Alford:

people that that struggle with time, how do I how do I plan my

Ron Alford:

time more effectively? How do I manage my time more effectively?

Ron Alford:

How do I have boundaries and there are people that struggle

Ron Alford:

with the emotional side of being people pleasers or being control

Ron Alford:

freaks. So definitely the the clients internally and

Ron Alford:

externally. So I mentioned that earlier is you know, for us, we

Ron Alford:

hire coaches, they have this tremendous background, just as

Ron Alford:

you've got a brilliant resume and all these accolades and all

Ron Alford:

these certifications doesn't mean you don't get humbled

Ron Alford:

daily, put it that way. So I wanted this to be something that

Ron Alford:

are tools for our coaches that we can help coach on, but

Ron Alford:

obviously for our clients and, and again, stuff that people can

Ron Alford:

use not just in the boardroom, but things they could use when

Ron Alford:

they go home with their own children, or when they have

Ron Alford:

their own routines or their own quiet time where they're

Ron Alford:

wrestling with their thoughts. So that that was who it was

Ron Alford:

written for.

Adam Outland:

You know, I think you you really do exemplify what

Adam Outland:

you write about there not many people who are able to show up

Adam Outland:

at home and at work and live out things as much as you do. And

Adam Outland:

you've done a really good job being a living example. Just for

Adam Outland:

our back end of time. I wanted to do a little lightning round

Adam Outland:

of questions for you. It's kind of a fun question. I asked a lot

Adam Outland:

of folks we interview who is a person you always wanted to

Adam Outland:

meet, but never have?

Ron Alford:

It's funny I go to Troy Polamalu first, if

Ron Alford:

listeners know who that is that Google him whatever you know, as

Ron Alford:

a long, long, long time 45 year Pittsburgh Steeler fan, that's

Ron Alford:

one part of it. But way aside from that, he was the kite he is

Ron Alford:

for everything I've read, but the kindest, gentlest, calmest,

Ron Alford:

he would literally pray before every play, and yet he was

Ron Alford:

ferocious. Like if you go to go on YouTube and watch him, he was

Ron Alford:

just wreck. I mean, he was Raizy on the field and pro bowl after

Ron Alford:

Pro Bowl, all the all defense MVP, etc. So just crazy in the

Ron Alford:

field, but yet he had a way of calming himself down and the way

Ron Alford:

he treated people with so unconditional, I was read about

Ron Alford:

things he and his wife have done to impact people. And it just it

Ron Alford:

a ton of admiration for for Troy.

Adam Outland:

That's a really good one. Good balance of

Adam Outland:

humility and in prayer with aggression, that's appropriate.

Ron Alford:

Exactly.

Adam Outland:

What's something that significant, I guess, that

Adam Outland:

you've actually changed your mind about recently that you've

Adam Outland:

had a change of mind about?

Ron Alford:

I think, I think just right and wrong, it's hard

Ron Alford:

to be around politics or just divisive things. And I'm more

Ron Alford:

and more and I don't know if I like this about myself, but I'm

Ron Alford:

more and more becoming one of my co workers. He calls me

Ron Alford:

Switzerland sometimes, because we'll take aside at times. Now,

Ron Alford:

obviously, there's certain things that convictions are

Ron Alford:

like, come on, I have absolute principles and convictions I'll

Ron Alford:

die for, I'm gonna I'm gonna dig in on certain things. And a lot

Ron Alford:

of it I'm not, I'm not going to stick my flag on that I'm not

Ron Alford:

going to act like that's, I just think ego does these crazy

Ron Alford:

things to us humans where we think we have to be right, which

Ron Alford:

means they have to be wrong. Someone just as wise across the

Ron Alford:

aisle is saying the same thing about you. And so just more and

Ron Alford:

more and more, whatever the topic might be disbelieving

Ron Alford:

there can be some truth in both sides. How can we listen? And so

Ron Alford:

it's just more and more not being quick to judge quick to

Ron Alford:

speak but slower to ask questions and try to seek to

Ron Alford:

understand I don't know if it's a new principle, but it's

Ron Alford:

something I'm I have a higher conviction of lately than I did

Ron Alford:

years ago.

Adam Outland:

So you embrace the moniker Switzerland?

Ron Alford:

I do exactly. While other countries are going to

Ron Alford:

war. We're just like, hey, life's good. Like more wine more

Ron Alford:

cheese, more calm. Switzerland is happy.

Adam Outland:

What's the best piece of advice that you

Adam Outland:

ignored? Intentionally? Like when you're glad you did the one

Adam Outland:

piece of advice that maybe you've received that you didn't

Adam Outland:

take?

Ron Alford:

I think having to have data pros and cons always

Ron Alford:

have to be aligned, like logic is gonna win, always. And just

Ron Alford:

sometimes there is a gut, there's an art to as a big

Ron Alford:

baseball fan. You know, you can see that the analytical data

Ron Alford:

studies, where there's a lot of GMs that have baseball teams

Ron Alford:

that eyeball stuff. Yep, exactly. And so that's one thing

Ron Alford:

where I believe it out love data. I love trends. I love

Ron Alford:

studying analytics. And I believe there's absolutely a

Ron Alford:

world of logic. And there's times where it's like, you know

Ron Alford:

what, I'm going to trust my heart. Like there's something

Ron Alford:

there that is true and pure. And I don't want to always be a

Ron Alford:

slave to what the data says.

Adam Outland:

Really true. The pendulum swing sometimes like in

Adam Outland:

the tech sector at swing that swings all the way over to data

Adam Outland:

driven decision making, but you could dig your grave with the

Adam Outland:

amount of data there is to sift through and analyze and in data

Adam Outland:

at the same time ends up as being numbers we know that tells

Adam Outland:

a good portion of the story, but you can wrongly interpret data

Adam Outland:

and unpack it incorrectly.

Ron Alford:

There is an art. I think it's the art and the

Ron Alford:

science. Both are great things. And again, maybe that's the

Ron Alford:

Switzerland in me. But art or science, it's both.

Adam Outland:

What's your current morning routine?

Ron Alford:

So you know, bathroom routine, come out, 30

Ron Alford:

seconds with my dog, I literally get on the steps and just

Ron Alford:

literally hug my dog and like lay with them and just kind of,

Ron Alford:

and then come down, feed the animals. And I come into my

Ron Alford:

office as then I lay on my office floor at about a 15

Ron Alford:

minute stretchy routine that just helps you know, some back

Ron Alford:

situations and some stuff with my dog. So it's quiet time with

Ron Alford:

my coach where I'm stretching and relaxing. And he does his

Ron Alford:

downward dog and his stretching. And then depending on the day,

Ron Alford:

he either gets a quick walk and I go to the gym, or I take a we

Ron Alford:

grab the leash, which of course he goes crazy for meaning we get

Ron Alford:

to go for a run and the trails that's absolutely morning

Ron Alford:

routine that it's back. By that time, my daughter's up and my

Ron Alford:

wife's up and the kids are up and whatnot and get to see the

Ron Alford:

family and then kind of get ready and ready for the day.

Ron Alford:

Nothing crazy.

Adam Outland:

Nope, that's perfect. And stretching, I think

Adam Outland:

is a big thing that I'm missing.

Ron Alford:

Yes. And I'll just quickly add to it the physical

Ron Alford:

side of course, but it's it's way deeper, I believe that

Ron Alford:

spiritual, the emotional, the physical, the mental, all four

Ron Alford:

components, that helps me with my my shoulders drop. And even

Ron Alford:

in the middle of the day, when when anxiety or stress starts to

Ron Alford:

add up having a quick routine, you know, maybe just after

Ron Alford:

lunch, or the two o'clock, 10 minute break, or something where

Ron Alford:

I can go out and kind of re stretch in a way maybe not the

Ron Alford:

same as I did in the morning, my breathing changes the tone of

Ron Alford:

voice, the calmness, like I said, the posture that, you

Ron Alford:

know, I can have neck issues or whatever. And so I think it

Ron Alford:

really does get your art, right. So it's because I've stretched

Ron Alford:

where my mind is in 18 different places, and I'm scrolling apps

Ron Alford:

and I'm my mental side is not there. And it's not nearly as

Ron Alford:

effective. But when I stretch with breathing, and with

Ron Alford:

calmness and with no distractions and just being

Ron Alford:

there with my dog, there's something more there's a deeper

Ron Alford:

level of health that comes from it.

Adam Outland:

Have you ever hired like a trainer or a coach

Adam Outland:

of some kind, like business or physical related to like prepare

Adam Outland:

for something?

Ron Alford:

Yes, not as much as I'd like to say I have. So I've

Ron Alford:

hired some trainers to help with, like, even physical

Ron Alford:

therapists, for example, definitely, I've hired physical

Ron Alford:

therapists not reactionary because I've got an injury but

Ron Alford:

more proactively to help me with preventative things from my back

Ron Alford:

or my hips or my knees or, you know, as I get older, and

Ron Alford:

you're, if I'm training for 100 mile race this August, and I'm

Ron Alford:

gonna spend a lot of time how do i proactively prevent injury

Ron Alford:

versus reactively? Do it. So I've done a lot of that kind of

Ron Alford:

thing for sure.

Adam Outland:

That's awesome. Probably a good analogy for

Adam Outland:

business coaching, too, is that so many people gravitate towards

Adam Outland:

coaching or help when it's already, not necessarily too

Adam Outland:

late. But the problems already become so painful, that they're

Adam Outland:

scrambling for a need, there's probably a lot of value to

Adam Outland:

preventative maintenance in every area of your life. Right?

Adam Outland:

Do you really want you know, marital counseling, when it's

Adam Outland:

really, really needed? Or do you want to get ahead of that,

Adam Outland:

right? I mean, there's lots of examples.

Ron Alford:

And in all seriousness, like I cannot agree

Ron Alford:

more, and it's painful to think of all the times I've made the

Ron Alford:

mistake of the opposite. Let me not act in any way. Like I've

Ron Alford:

been some proactive person my whole life. No way, messed it up

Ron Alford:

so much. But now it's like, I won't be able to do that

Ron Alford:

training. But I also still want to play basketball with my boys

Ron Alford:

every weekend. I want to be able to run with my daughter and do

Ron Alford:

things and keep up with them. And it's getting tougher, y'all

Ron Alford:

but it's like, I still can rock one on one with my twins. And

Ron Alford:

it's like, I wanna be able to do that and not you know, when they

Ron Alford:

have their kids, I want to go play with my grandkids some day.

Ron Alford:

So there's some deep emotional Of course, that's back to the

Ron Alford:

vision board type stuff. deep emotional purpose behind this,

Ron Alford:

that has sparked the action in hiring the PT on the on the

Ron Alford:

front end.

Adam Outland:

Yeah, it's really cool. This has been a really

Adam Outland:

insightful and energizing interview just spent a lot of

Adam Outland:

really great anecdotes and stories, things that I hadn't

Adam Outland:

heard before. And I think our listeners are gonna love hearing

Adam Outland:

this reading your book and and so on that last point. Where can

Adam Outland:

people find Redefining Possible?

Ron Alford:

So of course Amazon any any book selling places

Ron Alford:

there are southwest your websites so

Ron Alford:

SouthwesternConsulting.com or my own, RonAlfordSWC.com. Any of

Ron Alford:

those are good. Yeah. Even on my Instagram or LinkedIn or those

Ron Alford:

places that it has links for it.

Adam Outland:

Coaching, training, speaking, Ron does it

Adam Outland:

all here you can find more info on all those same places for

Adam Outland:

that as well. Right?

Ron Alford:

Correct. It's fun to learn with and that's why I

Ron Alford:

love being a part of this as we get to talk through stuff.

Ron Alford:

That's okay. I've got more focus and energy for my days. So

Ron Alford:

thanks for having me on talking about all this.

Adam Outland:

Yeah, you got it Ron, appreciate the time.

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